There's Only Room for One of Us
by Captain Mockingjay
Summary: What happens when Quicksilver and Kid Flash meet? Well, a race is in order! But knowing these two, things are going to be more complicated than that. "There's only room for one speedster in this town and thats me! Got it?" Three-shot
1. The Challenge

**A/N: Am I the only one that's ever wondered what would happen if Quicksilver and Kid Flash met? I hope not, because that would mean that nobody would read this! Anyway, here's a short little three-shot about what **_**I **_**think would happen.**

**So, I'm no **_**Young Justice**_** expert, (I've only seen the show a few times) so I apologize if Wally's a little OOC or if any details are wrong. I like the show and all, I just don't think I've seen enough to do it justice (no pun intended).**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a warm July morning. The middle of summer. For most of the mutants of Bayville, this was the perfect time of year. School was out, and most of the bullying had gone with it. As long as a low profile was kept, there was nothing they really had to worry about. For once, it seemed that there might be a chance they could actually _fit in._ But for one rather proud young mutant, that was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Fitting in was what he was born _not _to do. And that was perfectly ok, because he knew he was better than them; that he was one of a kind.

Or so he thought.

Pietro Maximoff sauntered slowly down the sidewalks, relishing in the fact that he was of such higher standards than other people. Well, _humans_, for that matter. He raised his chin proudly as people dashed about, their coffee spilling from jostled cups, phones buzzing incessantly, words being spit rapidly into Bluetooth headsets, bags being voraciously dug through, credit cards being slashed through cash registers, cars screeching through intersections. It seemed that the entire world was always in such a hurry. Short, mortal lives couldn't encompass the whole of their desires, so it was necessary to speed through it so one could possibly feel some sort of contentment or achievement during their last breaths. Pietro smiled knowingly and somewhat smugly, for he could move fast enough to complete in mere minutes what "normal" people strive for their whole lives.

It wasn't just his speed that made him feel so vain, though. His bloodline was a contributing factor as well. Not only was he a mutant, a more evolved citizen of humanity, one of the destined few to succeed the humans as the dominant race, but his father was one of the most powerful mutants of them all. He was proud to be the son of Erik Lensherr, a.k.a. Magneto, a man who rose up from the ashes, a man whose sole goal in life is the survival of his race by any means necessary. It was true that a small, infinitesimal part of Pietro may have wanted to fit into society, but this part was greatly overshadowed by his more egotistical side, the side that didn't give a crap what measly humans thought of him, that knew he was so much farther above them in so many ways. Pietro sidestepped out of the way as a young woman scurried past him, muttering something that sounded like "Yes, I'm on my way. I'll be there in five minutes" into the cell phone she had pinned between her shoulder and the side of her face.

He smiled again, and stretched his arms out behind his head, slightly brushing his silvery, windswept hair as he did so. Yes, he was proud of who he was, possibly even proud to a fault. There was no one else out there quite like him; he was the best at what he did, no doubt about it. His mutation might not have been the flashiest or most glorifying, but it was certainly not useless. In truth, how many other people could scale buildings, create tornadoes, run on water, become practically invisible (he was but an almost indiscernible blur at top speeds), escape any dangers, or complete hours' worth of work in but minutes? Some may look down on his powers as clichéd and worthless, but he begged to differ. He was King; in his own mind, at least. He was untouchable. No one would dare challenge him, right?

Wrong.

Suddenly, from within the crowd, a flash of orange streaked past Pietro, causing a breeze to billow his shirt. _"What was that?"_ he thought, turning his head in the direction the streak had gone. One silvery brow quirked as his brain ran through possibilities. _"There's only one thing I know that could make something like that. It can't be…can it?"_ Spinning on his heel, he turned raced off after the orange blur, pouring on his super speed with each step.

"_Who is that?! And where the hell could he be going?"_ Pietro wondered as he sped through the crowd and into the alleys of Bayville. The orange streak was barely within his sights, but luckily, he was fast enough to keep up with it. _"Hmm…"_ he observed as he passed a familiar looking building, realizing he was nearing the edge of town. _"There's only one thing over here that's really of any interest of anyone. That must be it!"_ Carefully he turned down another alley and sped back up. _"I'll just cut him off before he gets there and confront the upstart. I mean, who is _he_ to think he can just waltz in and start racing through _my_ town?" _

Zigzagging left and right through the labyrinth of buildings, Pietro eventually caught up to the speed demon a few blocks before he'd reach the X-Mansion. He skidded to a halt a block ahead of him, allowing the orange blur time to stop.

Just as Pietro had planned, the yellowy-orange clad boy caught sight of a lightning-quick silver blur about a block ahead of him. The boy in question had his arms crossed in front of his chest, and stood in the very middle of the street, effectively cutting him off. Not wanting to crash into the silver haired boy at his speed, the orange clad boy quickly skidded, just barely stopping a few feet from the other boy.

"And just what do you think you're doing here?!" the silvery haired boy snapped speedily. His dark blue eyes glared dangerously into the orange clad boy's green ones. He wore a strange yellowy-orange and red suit with a lightning bolt symbol on it. _"How cliché,"_ Pietro mused. He also wore a strange pair of goggles with red lightning bolts coming off the sides.

Not really sure how to reply to the boy's greeting, the red headed speedster's brow furrowed confusedly. "Uh…"

"And just who do you think you are, huh?! Speeding through _my_ town like that?!" Pietro spat. He brought his hand to his forehead and shook his head, taking a slow breath to calm himself. Well, it was slow for him, anyway. "Just, who are you," he began, his tone calmer this time, "and what are you doing here?"

"My name's Wally West, but I often go by Kid Flash. I'm here with my team on a mission. Apparently there have been some big mutant threats around here lately or something, so we've been working with the X-Men to help subdue them." The red-haired boy answered, allowing a trace of pride to leak into his voice.

Pietro wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, of course you'd be working with the X-Geeks," he quickly muttered under his breath at a speed only he could understand.

The other boy, Wally, looked offended. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" He puffed out his chest and crossed his arms over it. "And who are you, anyway?"

"_Did he really just understand that? Jeez, he is fast."_ Pietro's eyebrows rose for a miniscule amount of a second. Then he stood straighter, and raised his chin proudly before replying. "The name's Pietro Maximoff, Kid. But _you_ can call me Quicksilver, the resident speed demon of Bayville and son of the mighty Magneto."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Quicksilver." Wally held out his hand for Pietro to shake. When the other boy didn't partake in the gesture, he rather smoothly pulled his arm back and ran his hand through his hair. "So, are you like, a mutant or something? Do you have any superpowers?" he asked, trying to make conversation with the boy who hadn't stopped glaring at him since they'd met.

Quicksilver's dark blue eyes gained a proud glint in them. "Why yes, Kid, I am in fact, a mutant." The next instant he was behind Wally, tapping him on his shoulder. The orange clad boy turned to face him. "And a rather powerful one at that."

"Oh cool! So you're a speedster too? What's your top speed?" Wally began shooting off questions quickly as his voice took on a slightly awed tone.

"Well, I haven't really clocked my top speed or anything. And, not to brag, but," Pietro began to examine his fingernails, "I have been known to break the sound barrier, run straight up the sides of buildings, start tornadoes, ya know, stuff like that." He said, vanity dripping from his voice.

"That's cool, man. You and I, we should totally go racing sometime. It'd be awesome!" Wally offered as an excited grin spread across his face. _"This is so cool! Who would've thought I'd meet someone like me out here?"_

"Is that a challenge?" Pietro well, challenged. He'd finally found the opening he'd been looking for. His eyes glinted mischievously into the younger boy's.

"Huh? No…I just thought we could like, hang out or something…" Wally quirked an eyebrow, _"What is this guy doing?"_

"Quit playing games with me! Listen here, 'Kid Flash'. There's only room for _one_ speedster in the town, and that's me! Got it?" He was up in his face now, quickly uttering the threat.

"_What's going on?"_ Kid Flash wondered. "Uh…" His eyes flashed back and forth across the street. Was this some kind of joke or something?

"You know what?" Pietro put his hands up in front of him. "Let's just settle this fairly. We'll race, tomorrow, at two o'clock. Cool? Winner takes all."

"_Takes all of what?"_

"I'll meet you at the X-Mansion. Don't be late, or you forfeit, got it?" Self-confidence practically oozed off the older boy now, who was proud at a chance to show up this new kid in front of all his buddies, not to mention showing off in front of the X-Geeks.

"Um, sure?" Wally offered, half unsure of what he'd just agreed to. _"I swear, this guy is nuts!"_

"Perfect! See ya there, 'Kid Flash'!" he turned and sped off in a silver streak towards the other end of town, towards the Brotherhood Boarding House. Anxious anticipation rose in his chest; he would enjoy kicking this new kid's orangey butt tomorrow. Halfway up the street, he skidded to a stop and turned back towards the younger boy. "And may the best man win!" he called out, waving his arm so he was sure the other boy could see him.

"There's only room for one of us, huh?" Wally muttered, after Quicksilver had run off. "Well, buddy, this may be you're turf, but I'm surly not going down without a fight." He crossed his arms over his chest. "See ya tomorrow, Quicksilver. And you'd better bring your A-Game." Then he turned and dashed off in an orangey blur towards the X-Mansion.

* * *

**A/N: So who do you think will come out victorious? Leave your guess in a review! Pt. 2 will be up shortly, if the Fates allow.**


	2. Shotgun Start

**A/N: First off, I'd like to send a general shout-out to those of you that have favorited/followed/reviewed: Robin Rani, Squee the magical bunny, Klimmatt, and RedtailHawk 19. **

**Klimmatt: Thank you for pointing that out. That completely slipped my mind. Because the rest of the story is already written, I'm not going to do anything about it right now, but when/if I ever get around to revising it, I will definitely alter that. Sorry. I hope it doesn't detract from the story too much.**

**IMPORTANT: Ok, when I had originally written this, I had intended on it being a bit more humorous than the final chapter will be. Therefore, this chapter is somewhat lighthearted and a bit frivolous. And again, I'm not as crazy into YJ as I am the X-Men, so I hope it's not too bad when it comes to them.**

* * *

"So Quicksilver challenged you to a race?" Evan Daniels asked. "Why am I not surprised?" he groaned. He and the rest of the X-Men along with Wally and his Team were seated around the coffee table in the living room of the mansion. Wally was leaning against the side of a large armchair crunching on a bag of chips as he told the teams of his encounter with Quicksilver earlier that day.

"Yeah! I mean, I'd barely met the guy, and had said like three words to him when he turns all psycho on me!" Wally cried. He tossed another handful of chips in his mouth. "I mean, who is this guy, anyway? How do you guys know him?"

"Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver," Scott Summers began, "belongs to a group of mutant troublemakers known as the Brotherhood. Usually it's our job to go out there and clean up whatever mess they decide to make." He rolled his eyes behind is ruby quartz glasses.

"So, they're like super villains or something? 'Cause, I mean, that guy was a bit of a jerk and all, but I don't think he's _that_ bad." Wally's face quirked into an expression of confusion with a bit of disbelief thrown into the mix. The rest of his team had been pretty quiet so far, not really saying much.

The X-Men just looked at each other, a few of them shrugged. "I wouldn't necessarily call them 'super villains'," Kurt Wagner said. "Just more like, 'mutants who use their powers to cause trouble'."

Wally nodded.

"So are you going to race him tomorrow, then?" Artemis asked from the armchair Kid Flash was leaning against.

He shrugged. "I don't see why not. It'll be fun! And I'll have a real challenge. Seriously, what's the worst that can happen?" He smiled contentedly and slipped down into the seat beside Artemis.

Evan shook his head. "Those are famous last words." The X-Men sighed and leaned back in their seats, mentally preparing themselves for the disaster that was to come tomorrow at 2:00 pm.

…

"Seriously! I mean it! I will not stand for this sort of mockery!" Pietro fumed as he paced back and forth in the living room of the Brotherhood Boarding house. The rest of the Brotherhood was seated on the couch, bored out of their minds at Pietro's incessant complaining. Lance held the remote out and was trying to change the channel, but with Quicksilver's constant pacing, even being able to see the television at all seemed impossible.

"Ugh! We get it, Pietro!" Wanda shouted. "You're upset that there's another speedster in the neighborhood! Oh well! You didn't really think that you're the only mutant in the whole world with super speed, did you?!" She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled towards her brother.

"It's not just because he's fast, Wanda. It's because this… this mere _child_ is disrupting the balance here!" Pietro's arms were flailing wildly and his voice was getting higher with every word.

"Pietro," Lance began, his hand on his forehead, "you do realize that this guy isn't that much younger than you, right?"

"That's not the point! The point is that this guy is a true threat to my authority in this town, and I need to show him who's boss!" Pietro stomped his foot and put his hands on his hips, sticking his chest out proudly. He then turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.

Lance shook his head and turned to Wanda. "There's no getting through to that guy, is there?"

"I'm afraid not," Wanda sighed, and sank into the couch.

…

[Day of the Race. 1:50 pm]

Kid Flash and his Team stood suited up in the front yard of the X-Mansion, awaiting the arrival of Quicksilver. The X-Men were lazily leaning against the building, most of them clad in their normal clothing, half of them still in pajamas. Some of them hadn't even bothered to brush their hair yet. Kurt was hanging upside down from a tree by his tail, attempting to gain a little more sleep.

"Why isn't the rest of your team suited up?" Robin asked Cyclops, who happened to be one of the few X-Men prepared in his uniform. "I thought you said these guys were trouble makers. Don't you want to be prepared?"

"It's just the Brotherhood." Kitty Pryde said matter-of-factly. "We can handle them without our uniforms on." She was one of the girls still in her pink pajamas and whose hair was all in disarray.

"Ah, yes. But aren't you forgetting the Scarlet Witch?" Kurt mentioned. His eyes were still closed but he had begun swinging back and forth slightly from the bough of the tree.

"Even with Wanda, I think we're tough enough to handle them." Kitty retorted.

Kurt shrugged, then went back to dozing.

Kid Flash had gone off to a corner to stretch, taking every precaution so that he could defeat this Quicksilver guy. According to the X-Men, this guy was _fast_, so he wanted to be sure he was prepared. _"I don't even know why I'm taking this so seriously,"_ he thought to himself. Maybe it was one of those teenage boy pride things.

"Either way, it's still unprofessional to face your opponents in your pajamas." Robin stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Scott, who stood straight and proud, prepared for anything, just shrugged.

Another few minutes passed in an odd silence. Kurt continued absently swinging back and forth from the tree branch as he snoozed. Then his sensitive pointy ears picked up a faint sound up the street, waking him from his catnap. His eyes lazily slid open before he teleported up to the roof of the Institute to get a better view. The sight he saw confirmed his suspicions.

"Hey, guys! They're here!" he shouted.

Instantly the rest of the group jolted awake and gathered near the gate to meet the Brotherhood. Pietro stood front and center, dressed in his Quicksilver costume. Wanda was standing on his left and Lance on his right, both looking equally bored and not wanting to be there. Fred stood behind them with Toad on his shoulder. Aside from Pietro, they were all dressed in their street clothes.

Pietro strode through the gate with an evident swagger, stopping in front of the huddled group of heroes. Wally stood at the front of this group with his chest stuck proudly out and an excited grin plastered across his face. They would never admit it, but both speedsters' hearts were hammering a bit harder and faster in their chests. Pietro struggled not to think about it, seeing as how he was in the presence of telepaths, but he was actually _nervous_ about this race with Kid Flash. What if the unthinkable happened? What…what if he lost? What would happen to his reputation? What would the rest of the Brotherhood think him? What would his _father _think of him?

…What would he think of himself?

"_No,"_ he forced himself to think. He pushed those thoughts away, shoving new ones on his mind. _"I can't think that way. I have nothing to fear. This is nothing. This is just simply showing some silly upstart teenager who's boss."_

Wally stepped forward, hands resting idly on his hips. He had a kind smile plastered to his face. "So are we ready to get this show on the road?" he asked awkwardly.

Quicksilver, careful to keep up his visage of confidence and haughtiness, looked him up and down judging manner. "So here's how this will work." He held out his hand and Wanda exasperatedly placed a rolled up paper in it. He then snapped his fingers and Lance rolled his eyes before taking the paper and unrolling it, holding it up for the group to see. "The course will start here," Pietro stated, pointing to a picture of the Institute on the paper, which in fact was a map of Bayville. "It will continue out and run the perimeter of the town, then run halfway around it again before cutting in directly through the middle of town, making a straight shot for the X-Geek house." He had traced the entire path over the map with his finger.

"Ok, so what's the catch?" Evan asked.

"No catch, Daniels. Just a simple foot race. First one across the finish line wins. Although, I might recommend a motion activated camera or something, 'cause you're not gonna be able to see me cross that finish line with the naked eye." He pointed to his eye for emphasis.

"No, I know you, Maximoff. There's _always_ a catch." Evan clenched his jaw, clearly not enjoying this conversation. "So spill it now and keep this fair, or you'll regret it later."

"Ooh, is that a threat I hear? Like I said, _no catch_. That I'm aware of, that is. Is there something you're trying to warn me of, Pin Cushion?"

"Pietro, knock it off," Wanda warned. "Listen, guys, for once, Pietro's not being a sniveling little cheat. He's actually sincere; this is just a simple foot race. None of us are in on any sort of scheme or whatever."

"She's telling the truth," Jean spoke up. She too had opted to wear her X-Men uniform that morning. "I've checked both of them out. There's nothing going on."

Evan shot one last glare at his silvery-haired former rival before stalking off back into the crowd.

After a few more looks were shared and telepathic messages exchanged, both speedsters lined up at the front gate of the Xavier Institute. They set themselves into a stance, ready to run. Jubilee stood in front of them, prepared to be their shotgun start.

"On your mark!" she shouted, her hands beginning to glow. "Get set!" She raised her hands above her head.

"Wait!" Pietro called, rising from his stance.

Beside him, Wally flinched, almost taking off. Luckily, though, he hadn't. He stood and turned toward his competition. "What now, Quicksilver?"

"I almost forgot!" He pulled something from his costume's pocket, _("There are pockets in that thing?" _Wally thought absently_)_ and handed the thin, plastic, black and white checkered tape to Robin. "Tie this across the gate so I can break it when I win."

Robin took the tape with a muttered, "Whatever."

"Are you ready _now_?" Wally asked, impatiently tapping his foot.

"Yes, I am," Pietro said smugly. The boys took their stances again.

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "On your mark!" her hands began glowing again. "Get set!" Again she raised her hands above her head. "GO!" she shouted, shooting her 'fireworks' into the sky for a shotgun start.

The boys took off the instant the words left her lips, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke behind and sliver and orange streaks in their wake.

* * *

**A/N: I guess not a whole lot happened, but I felt it was necessary (I don't know if you feel the same way). This was originally just going to be a two-shot, but I wanted to write the race itself fairly long, and that would make this chapter well over to double what it is, so I'll just put it in the next chappie :)**

**Also: Summart has been changed because is being wierd with the punctuation. (I'm typing it in right, but it's not showing up correct for some reason.)**


	3. The Race

**A/N: I AM SOOOOOO SOOO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I had planned on finishing it the day I posted Ch. 2, but homework and whatnot got the better of me. I'm SO sorry. I hope it is worth the wait.**

* * *

_Jubilee rolled her eyes. "On your mark!" her hands began glowing again. "Get set!" Again she raised her hands above her head. "GO!" she shouted, shooting her 'fireworks' into the sky for a shotgun start._

_The boys took off the instant the words left her lips, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke behind and sliver and orange streaks in their wake._

Quicksilver held the initial lead, though only barely. Kid Flash trailed slightly behind, steadily keeping only a few feet between them. In all honesty, if he knew the town better, he'd be _waaay_ out in front already. Or, at least that's what he told himself. His speed was nowhere near its maximum, but he wasn't sure he could say the same for the silvery haired speed demon in front of him. He could only hope that it wasn't.

Pietro, reassured now that he had taken the lead, took a risk and snuck a glance behind him. The redhead was a few feet behind him, but keeping steady with his speed other than that. Pietro turned his eyes forward again and let a cocky smile slip onto this face. The upstart obviously wasn't as fast as or faster than him, or else he'd be out in front already. His own speed was not anywhere close to its uppermost limit yet, so he felt confident that he would have no trouble leaving this kid far in his wake once the race was closer to conclusion.

They were about halfway across town when something far in the distance (and closing in fast) caught Pietro's eye. Recognition instantly dawned on him as a black hole opened up in the pit of his stomach. His eyes widened and his rapid breath caught in his throat. His legs deadened as he squeakily skidded to a halt. His arms shot out on either side of him, partly for balance, but mostly to warn the boy trailing just behind him.

Wally too had noticed something up ahead, but it hadn't seemed threatening to him so he had shrugged it off, deciding that he'd be speeding by too fast for anything to be a danger to him. He hadn't counted on Quicksilver's sudden tension and skidding halt, barely having enough time to react before he collided with the teen, sending them both flying forward a few feet.

"What the heck?! Why did you stop?!" Wally shouted at Pietro. At first he thought it was some sort of trick to get Wally to stop and lose his momentum, but after he saw the pure, blatant _shock_ written on Pietro's face, he realized that something was definitely wrong.

His green eyes snapped forward and he realized why Pietro was in the state he was in. Standing, er, more like _hovering_ in the middle of the street was an older looking man clad in some sort of red and purple-blue suit, with a dark helmet adorning his head, covering most of his face. Though he could not clearly make out the man's face from the distance, he could feel his eyes boring into him. Standing on the ground beside the man was a woman with dark blue skin and startlingly red hair. On his other side was a man who appeared to be completely made of metal, a cold, (no pun intended) metallic look on his face.

"Who are they?" Wally gasped at Pietro, whose expression hadn't changed. "What the hell is going on here, Quicksilver?" he hissed. Clearly, Pietro knew these people, and clearly that was not a good thing. He grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him, trying to coax some sort of reaction other than shock out of him. "Pietro! What the hell is going on? Who are these people?"

Pietro shook his head, slowly coming back into reality. He was vaguely aware of Wally shouting at him, but that wasn't the focal point of his thoughts. "Dad?" he choked out, his eyes on the congregation of mutants before them.

Wally's head shot back around to the people Pietro was referring to. Now another man had gathered with them; he wore a long brown leather trench coat and was playing with what appeared to be a deck of cards, leaning against a parked car. At that time another man hopped up from behind another car. He was clad in an orange suit and flames danced around him as he laughed maniacally.

Now that his mind was clearing, Pietro stepped past Kid Flash and approached his father, who seemed to be emitting a painfully intimidating atmosphere. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his brows furrowing together in confusion.

For a short, infinitesimal moment, Pietro's hopes leaped in his chest, hopes that maybe, _maybe,_ his father had come here for him, to take him in as his right hand man. A tiny prodding at the back of his mind, though, whispered his doubts. _"No, this is too big of a display. Why would he go through all this trouble of gathering the Acolytes and assembling them here just to talk to you?"_

Magneto turned to him with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. "Ah, Pietro. How long has it been, my son?"

If he wasn't before, Pietro was now completely baffled. "Too long," he replied, a slight bitterness creeping into his voice. "What are you doing here?" he asked again, not trying as hard to hide the agitation behind it.

"Why, I'm here to thank you," Magneto said matter-of-factly.

"Thank me?" he questioned, his face quirking into a confused expression.

"Yes, for all your help in isolating Kid Flash from his team for easy capture." The Acolytes all stood up straight now, preparing themselves for the inevitable. Sabretooth leapt down from the roof of a nearby building and onto a street lamp, his fangs bared mercilessly.

"WHAT?!" Wally whirled around and grabbed Pietro by the collar of his uniform, brandishing a fist in his face. "I thought you didn't have any hidden agendas?!" he snarled.

"I-I don't!" he cried. "I have no idea what's going on! Honest!" he murderous glare in Wally's eyes caused a new wave of panic to set in.

"Who are these people, _Quicksilver_?" he spit his name out like it was sour. "What is happening?"

"Wally, listen to me. I honestly swear that I have no idea what's happening." He leaned in a bit closer to him, silently praying that none of the Acolytes, especially Sabretooth, could hear him. "Just let go, and I'll figure this out," he whispered.

Wally, his face still contorted in a snarl, shoved Pietro away from him. His glaring green eyes bored into Pietro's dark blue ones, _You better not be screwing with me._

Pietro turned back toward his father, taking a protective half-step in front of the redheaded boy beside him. "Father, what's this all about?"

Magneto landed and took a few steps toward his son. "Pietro, please, step away. You've done well. Leave the boy to us."

Pietro cringed, _"You've done well,"_ it was the closest thing to an 'I'm proud of you, son' he'd ever gotten. "What?" he gaped. And suddenly, he was torn, almost physically torn. Literally. In that moment of indecision Sabretooth had leapt from his perch on the street lamp, claws outstretched, aiming straight for the two speedsters.

With his mind still pulling him in two different directions, Pietro didn't have a chance to react to the feral mutant launching himself toward him. Seconds before he would've been sliced to ribbons, he was shoved firmly to the side and collapsed on the ground. When he looked up he saw Kid Flash above him, panting slightly. "Get up! Go!" he shouted.

Pietro stood quickly and took a step back. _"What am I supposed to do?"_ his mind shouted. Part of him was still caught up in the pathetically small amount of affection and pride his father had shown in him only a moment before. He'd been craving just that for so long, how could he so directly betray his father now? But part of him, a much less prominent part, yes, but it still loud enough to be heard, urged him to protect the upstart that had gotten him into this in the first place.

He looked at the boy who was rapidly dodging swipes from Sabretooth. What was he supposed to do about this kid? Despite everything he thought of him, was he just supposed to let his father and his cronies take his fellow speedster?

And then it hit him. _"What does my father want with this guy? What could he possibly need from him?" _If Magneto wanted him to get to the X-Men or Kid Flash's Team, this wouldn't be the way he'd go about it. And if that wasn't it then there was only one other reason he'd want him: his powers. _"But, Father couldn't possibly need him for that. He already has someone with superhuman speed. He has me. And I'm better than this guy. I'm his son…"_ That's it. Magneto thought Kid Flash was better than him. Anger, jealousy and betrayal boiled in the pit of his stomach.

With a furious shout he raced toward Sabretooth at full speed, a fist outstretched and aimed straight for his furry face. He collided with the feral mutant and knocked him backwards, slamming him into a wall. He spun toward his father and his cohorts with a deep blue fire burning in his eyes. "You think you need him?!" he spat. "You think he's better than me?! You think he's better than your own _son_?!"

Before they could react he was racing up to the Acolytes, knocking Mystique out with a well-placed, well-timed punch. Pyro attempted to douse him in fire, but a few quick doughnuts rendered him downed and gasping for air. Gambit was a bit more of a problem, launching a blizzard of charged playing cards at him. Pietro managed to avoid the majority of the cards, but when he was close enough to land a punch at the Cajun, the man's quick reflexes proved themselves as he caught Quicksilver's hand mid-punch.

Pietro gasped and steeled himself for the blow that never came. Just before Gambit was able to charge another card, his grip slackened and he fell backwards, revealing a fist belonging to a certain redheaded speed demon.

"Thanks," Pietro choked out, unused to the word.

"Don't mention it." Wally nodded.

Together the two boys tackled Colossus and managed to knock him back into a wall, though their knuckles had definitely suffered from such high-speed contact with the metallic skin of the Acolyte.

…

Watching all that had taken place, how his son had turned on him, his plans for quick capture of Kid Flash had failed, and how the two boys had defeated his entire team by themselves, a wave of fear suddenly entered Magneto's bloodstream. The way Pietro's eyes had flared…the furious, life threatening glare he'd shot at him…he never thought his son would be capable of that kind of fury, especially toward him. Having already seen a taste of the boys' combined strength and not wishing for a sequel, Magneto raised himself into the air and shot off for his hideout, deciding to deal with his rebellious son and his orangey counterpart later.

…

By the time they had finished off the Acolytes, the boys turned toward where Magneto had been, yet saw no sign of him. "Crap," Pietro swore, his heart pounding against his chest with the rush of battle. "He got away."

"So that was Magneto, huh?" Kid Flash said beside him.

Pietro nodded.

"So, really, what happened back there? Because seriously, I'm insanely confused."

"My father happened, that's what." Pietro spat. His eyes focused on the floor, looking steadily at nothing, "You know, all my life, all I'd wanted was to make him proud, you know? But no matter what I do, I'll never be good enough for him." Pietro shook his head.

Wally looked at him, his mind forming a completely different opinion about the boy he'd once pinned as a psycho. _"So that guy was his dad?"_ Despite his initial distrust of the infamous Brotherhood member, Wally couldn't help but see the boy in a different light now, after getting a glimpse into his past. He took a step closer to him and awkwardly patted his shoulder, not sure how to comfort his once-rival. He offered him a weak smile before he offered, "Well, I think you're pretty cool. Don't listen to that old fart, he obviously doesn't know what he's talking about."

This earned him a rare, genuine smile from Quicksilver. No mischief or cunning or secret meanings, just a real, honest to goodness smile.

Wally took a step back as a grin spread across his face. "C'mon, we're in the middle of a race, aren't we?"

A cocky grin flashed onto Pietro's features. "Yeah, right. There's only room for one of us in this town."

"And may the best man win!" Wally shouted and shot off at blinding speeds.

The next instant Pietro was after him and rapidly catching up. Within moments he was neck and neck with the redheaded boy, who seemed to be running faster than he had in the first leg of the race. The buildings began to turn to indiscernible blurs as they poured on more and more speed. The X-Mansion flew past them as they neared the final part of the race. The only reason Pietro knew they had passed it at all was because the place was too large to miss.

Pietro couldn't help but feel a tiny encroachment of worry begin to build up in the pit of his stomach. Passing the X-Mansion meant that they were approaching their next half-lap of the town, which meant they would be re-approaching the battle-sight. He didn't even realize his tension until he caught himself falling slightly behind Kid Flash.

Wally sensed this and turned his head, slowing up a bit so he was even with Pietro. "You alright?" he called.

"Huh?" Pietro asked, coming back to his senses. "Uh, oh, yeah, totally." He shook his head and sped up a bit, bringing their speed back up to where it was.

Kid Flash pursed his lips together, concerned for him. He kept his gaze trained forward, scanning in case of another attack, but out of the corner of his eye he continued to monitor Pietro.

The battle sight flew by, nothing but a blur. Wally didn't bother to see if the unconscious bodies of their foes had been removed. He didn't want to know. He snuck a quick look at Quicksilver, only to see the other boy running just as hard as him, if not harder. His jaw was clenched tight and his eyes deep blue eyes were locked stonily forward.

They rounded the final corner; it was just a straight shot for the X-Mansion and the glory of victory. Both boys' minds now clicked in the same direction. Both had been holding back the entire race, attempting to lull the other into a false sense of security before making a literal mad dash for the finish line.

The blur of legs slowly became less discernible, chests heaved harder, and hearts pounded with greater intensity in an attempt to pump oxygenated blood to screaming muscles. When Pietro looked over and saw that despite his acceleration, he remained perfectly tied with the younger speedster, he set his jaw and forced his legs to move faster, trying desperately to best the other boy. What he didn't realize, though, was that Wally had the exact same idea.

Both were accelerating at the same rate, and completely unaware that their opponent had the same tactic as them.

As the X-Mansion loomed ahead, the dueling speed demons both poured in as much of their strength as they could muster in a last ditch effort to outrun their opponent. And finally, as the sound of heavy panting was lost to the uproar of cheers and shouts, they skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with the hard stone walls of the mansion.

The crowd of their fellow superhumans rushed toward them, proud cheers ringing in the air.

"So," Pietro stood and dusted himself off, his breathing was still a bit heavy. "Who won?"

"There's no way to be completely positive, because you guys were _way_ too fast," Scott began.

"But," Jean interrupted, "according to mine and Miss Martian's mental readings and what Avalanche was able to read from the vibrations in the ground, we believe the safest and most accurate assumption is that you two tied."

"WHAT?!" the speedsters shouted at the same time.

"Wait wait wait, are you guys _absolutely positive_ that there's no way to tell who _really_ won?" Pietro pleaded.

"Absolutely not. You guys tied." Jean shrugged.

"But- but we can't _tie_!" Wally whined. "Now how are we supposed to prove who the better speedster is?"

"Well, my little buddy," Pietro slung his arm around the redhead's shoulders, "we may not be able to prove _that_, but I think this race has definitely proved that there is more than enough room for two speedsters in this town." He offered Wally a half-attempt at a friendly smile.

Wally slung his arm over Pietro's shoulders. He put his hand up to his face and whispered in a low, conspiratorial tone, "But you know what this means, don't you?"

Pietro raised a silvery eyebrow.

"REMATCH!" And he sped off to the far ends of the grounds with a familiar silver streak in tow.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, cheesy ending. I'll probably end up rewriting this one day. But I hope you liked it anyway! I honestly wasn't sure how to end it, so I hope it's not too bad.**

**And a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewd/followed/favorited. They honestly brighten my day :)**

**Please drop a review! :D**


End file.
